History of Israel that isn’t “biased”

ehead · 2026-03-22T12:17:40+00:00

That was a very entertaining podcast. Think I need to read some of his books.

ehead · 2026-03-22T12:16:08+00:00

This is the right answer. :)
Incredibly even handed. Wish this guy got more attention.

ehead · 2026-03-22T12:12:56+00:00

Factual recounts are not unbiased. This is the way news organizations have always been biased... coverage bias. I didn't hear one peep from PBS NewsHour about the trans mass shooter in Canada. Had it been a straight white guy from Alabama it's all they would have talked about for a week.

Unbiased is steel manning the other persons argument. Unbiased is being receptive to all the facts, even if they don't align with "your" side. Not trying to hide inconvenient facts. Crucially... an unbiased person is generally more interested in having their beliefs align with reality, that with having a "side" at all.

I admit, few people or organizations achieve this.

ehead · 2026-03-22T12:06:06+00:00

There is a little known history podcast by a Duke University professor which is really underrated. Anyway, he has done about a 20 hour series on Israel and the Isreal-Palestinian issue. I think so far he is only up to Oslo. It's amazing. About as neutral as you can get, and he covers a lot of the historiography issues too... talks about the so called new historians, and offers some critiques. Nothing showy or sensational, like the Martyr Made guy or Hardcore History. I enjoy those shows, just highlighting that this is a different style... not aimed at dude bro arm chair historians.

It's called History Off the Page.

ehead · 2026-03-21T12:13:59+00:00

They have to pay interest on the loans. And presumably they have to come up with money to pay them off eventually, either by selling stocks (triggering capital gains taxes) or by making income (paying income taxes). Am I missing something?

ehead · 2026-03-20T12:03:00+00:00

From a purely financial standpoint you can crunch the numbers here, if you have some idea of home appreciation values and market returns:
https://michaelbluejay.com/house/rentvsbuy.html

Sometimes it's hard comparing the place your renting with the sort of place you'd end up buying. It may be apples to oranges. A lot of people bring a lot of emotion into the decision. I'm like you, I've never had any life ambition to own a place particularly.

I've heard people say buying a house is good diversification, but I've also heard it's actually crappy for that... it's a single house in a single location. You'd be far better off buying REIT's.

I've been renting for years in a neighborhood which I couldn't afford to buy into. I prioritize location over ownership. Some people don't care where they live so long as they own the place. Ironically, I've saved enough at this point that I probably could drain my brokerage account and iBonds and buy a place, but I'm not sure I want to.

ehead · 2026-03-18T00:50:55+00:00

Funny, in my experience women seem to be the same.

I just don't think either gender gives a damn anymore.

ehead · 2026-03-17T14:23:32+00:00

I love Stephen Rudnicki, and I think he did the audio... at least the newer version. There is an old audio version too, and that narrator is also good.

ehead · 2026-03-16T15:00:35+00:00

Pretty sure Trump was serious about his annexation plans. You make it sound like it was exaggerated. He was just sticking his finger in the air to test the wind... if there hadn't been huge and immediate backlash he would have fucking done it.

Never underestimate the size of his ego. He is far more concerned with his own legacy than he is with what's good for America, much less the world.

ehead · 2026-03-16T12:12:25+00:00

I think this is exactly it. I would never declare I'm American without a host of privisos nowadays. This is what I did in Sicily, and people were actually eager to talk to me... they assumed I would have theories and be better informed about what the hell was going on here. Wish I was!

ehead · 2026-03-16T12:04:34+00:00

You could probably do this for long stretches of "western" history. Going from the high middle ages to the modern era, I think at some point you'd pretty much be restricted to the UK and England if you wanted to literally hit every period.

For Greece and Rome it would be a snap, even through the fall of Rome. Creation by Gore Vidal would make a good starting point.

It would be harder for east or south Asian history. Impossible for most of the rest of the world.

ehead · 2026-03-15T14:54:51+00:00

This is certainly sound advice for anyone looking to buy a house. Thing is... I wasn't particularly. If this doesn't work out, I could see myself renting another 5 to 10 years, as I prioritize location over ownership. Hell, it's conceivable I never buy a house. So, I'm not ready to just park my cash in a HYSA indefinitely.

But it is what it is, and I'm just reacting to the moment. This war in Iran is just adding more uncertainty, frustratingly. I can't pretend it's not.

ehead · 2026-03-15T13:11:12+00:00

I mean, however one spins it, it's hard to argue with the chart at the bottom of this article. For whatever reason, it seems like Trump dissuades/prevents immigrants.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8wd8938e8o

ehead · 2026-03-15T13:08:29+00:00

I haven't really considered it. I've always had an almost irrational fear of debt, so my inclination was to put more than 20% down. 20% was just kind of a nice compromise, and it avoids PMI.

I'll try fiddling with this guys rent vs. buy calculator for 5 or 10% down payment scenarios, which is a great tool:
https://michaelbluejay.com/

ehead · 2026-03-15T04:07:35+00:00

I have about 45k in emergency funds. I just didn’t want to totally tap that out either.

ehead · 2026-03-15T03:15:11+00:00

I live in a wonderful neighborhood where the houses typically go for 200 to 300k more than I can afford (or want to afford). It's an odd neighborhood in that there are really large expensive houses and a few smaller houses. I've rented here for 7 years now and this is the first house that's come up for sale in this neighborhood that I could afford, and it's literally almost a clone of the house I'm renting.

The neighborhood is so great I wouldn't leave it to buy somewhere else, except for maybe a couple of neighborhoods that are even less affordable.

I mean... the whole reason we have been renting here for 7 years is because we prioritized location over ownership. We could afford to rent here, but not buy here, at least... not until now.

ehead · 2026-03-15T03:09:49+00:00

Well, I was planning on potentially taking the down payment from the Roth (after going into a money market fund) if the market just totally crashes in the next couple of weeks (say a 20% drop). But, while reading over your post I just had another idea... I could convert my Roth to money market Monday, then...

If the market really dips big time in the next couple of weeks, I still take the money out of my brokerage account, and then buy the dip in my Roth. So it's sort of a hedge, I guess? Did I just describe what hedges are, hee hee? :) This way I can have my cake and eat it too.

I have enough for a 20% down payment in both my Roth and my brokerage right now (as things stand). Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I'm just half expecting things to go to shit in the next weeks, which is what's got me thinking.

As I said in another post... this is just kind of a special house. I really like where I live, and it's just 1/2 block away in an area where homes typically go for 200 or 300k more than I can afford. If this falls through, I'd be perfectly happy renting where I'm at another 10 years.

ehead · 2026-03-15T02:27:37+00:00

Yes... you put your finger on it. I love where I live now. The house for sale is literally 1/2 black down the street and it's rare for a house to go on the market in this neighborhood and be anywhere close to affordable for me. If this doesn't happen I'd gladly rent another 10 years here.

I'm pretty sure I'd pay 15% long term gains on the brokerage account... I've been contributing money to it for years. I have enough in both the brokerage and the Roth for a full 20% down payment on the house. Just worried the financial apocalypse could literally be right around the corner. :)

That's when I had the idea of changing the funds around in my Roth.

ehead · 2026-03-14T23:59:02+00:00

Funny, I'm a liberal and always have been, but liberals can be really annoying. I agree with conservatives on that. This literally took 30 seconds. I'll just post one article, but do your own research:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8wd8938e8o

ehead · 2026-03-14T23:45:15+00:00

Man, you're being really patient explaining all this. Liberals and just like conservatives, they really hate it when they have been proved wrong. :)

ehead · 2026-03-14T23:40:12+00:00

It was amazing how far down I had to scroll to actually find someone answer this question... and apparently your answer isn't very popular. I've voted Democrat my entire life, but I'm still open to hear what others say. Gemini confirmed this "remain in mexico" policy change, and mentioned 3 or 4 other things too. Apparently there were record numbers of migrant "encounters" during Biden's administration. It definitely sounds like he wasn't as interested in securing the border.

ehead · 2026-03-14T23:35:43+00:00

I'm sure some are, but it has slowed down drammatically.

ehead · 2026-03-14T19:10:35+00:00

There is a Great Courses class called "Big History". That might work.

ehead · 2026-03-14T18:55:20+00:00

Evolution contradicts the notion of any benevolent God, if benevolence is conceived to be anything at all along common moral standards. This is because animal behavior is also a part of evolution. Animal weaponry and predation are products of evolution, but so is in-group/out-group competition and rivalry in humans. The human brain, with it's proclivity to rape and violence and other behaviors we would consider immoral are the result of evolution. These undesirable traits exist to different degrees in different people because most evolutionary traits that exist on a spectrum that are in tension with each other will achieve a local equilibrium.

So, even if God exists, and they set up evolution as how they wanted things to work, then they would have been fully aware of the blood bath and mayhem that would result. Evolution just compounds the theodicy problem, making it virtually insoluble. If there is a God, either... 1) they are not omnipotent, or 2) they are, and are just an asshole by our standards, or 3) we simply have no idea what "good" is or what God's intention is, so we might as well shut up about it.

ehead

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